LONDON -- A court in Britain handed down life-in-prison sentences to three men convicted in the honor killing of an unmarried Iraqi-born woman who had an affair.

The body of Banaz Mahmod, 20, of London was found in a suitcase buried in a garden in the city of Birmingham several months after she disappeared from home, Sky News reported Friday.

Authorities charged her father and uncle in her death along with another man who pleaded guilty prior to the trial. The father, Mahmoud Mahmod was ordered to serve at least 20 years in prison while Ari Mahmod, the uncle, is to be imprisoned for at least 23 years. The third man is to spend at least 17 years in prison.

During a pre-sentencing hearing it was revealed that the young woman had been raped and tortured before being killed. One of the slayers said he stomped on her neck to "let her soul out," the Sky News report said

An important piece of evidence that helped convict her killers was a mobile phone recording she made in a hospital following a previous attempt on her life.

Reportedly her pleas to police for help weren't taken seriously and five officers are facing disciplinary action as a result, Sky News said.